Where Angels Fear to Tread
by Mr. Oliver Queen
Summary: Oliver and Slade return home to Starling City after being away for five years. The city that they returned to, is a darker and seedier shell of what it used to be. Follow the two as they use a list of names given to them by Oliver's father to take down those who are destroying their city, and face their most dangerous foe. Will end up Olicity, obviously AU.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This has been swirling around in my brain for a while now, and I just wanted to put this out there because i loved working on it. I know I have a few stories that I have to work on, but I had a severe case of writers block, then this popped in my mind. Some elements of this story are AU, so if anything is off, it's because that's how I want my story to be. Also, this will definitely become Olicity, we just have to wait. So here you go.

It will follow Season One loosely. If anything seems confusing, just wait until further chapters. All you have to know is that Slade didn't get injected with the Mirakuru and he doesn't hate Oliver. Shado is not alive.

Disclaimer: All characters, places, and events belong to their respective owners, and I get no monetary gain from this story.

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><p>My name is Oliver Queen. Five years ago I was shipwrecked on this island, and I have thought of my return every cold black night since. I have faced many obstacles and many challenges on my five year trip to hell, and every moment on the island forged me into what I needed to be, not what I wanted to be. Along the way I have made many enemies and few friends.<p>

One such friend is a man named Slade Wilson, originally he didn't think of me as anything other than a hopeless playboy whose only skills consisted of ingesting large amounts of alcohol and having a woman at the snap of my fingers. After being able to prove myself, he started to have faith in me. He is a mentor, a friend...a brother.

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><p>A man ran across the sandy beach in search of a perfect vantage point. After five years of training and loss, he is finally the man his father so desperately needed. His tenure on the island will be considered vacant when he tells the story to his friends and family, he doesn't want them to know the troubles and pain he had to endure, he wants them to think of him as the foolish playboy who got deserted on an empty island. This is who they need to remember him as. Not the troubled man who had to do things to survive no one should ever have to do, but the carefree billionaire who drank too much and partied even harder.<p>

He vaulted over a tree trunk that fell over onto the beach a few years ago to reach a cliff overlooking another area of the beach. He saw the faint figure of his partner and pushed himself a little bit farther to get there sooner. Five years ago, he wouldn't have been able to see the man from the distance, but he honed his senses so that he could be on alert for any possible danger.

Climbing up the cliff proved to be an easy task. He had his bow on his back in a sheath of sorts that he made from the hides of deer, and he grabbed onto the rocks that protruded out some to pull himself up. When he finally reached the top, a man in a mask that was half orange and half black met him.

The man in the mask pointed out to a small object out in the distance floating along on the ocean. "Most likely a fishing boat."

The man in the hood took an arrow and ran the arrowhead over a knife and ignited a small flame. he then notched the arrow and aimed for his target: a pile of firewood fifteen feet high, doused in gasoline the kept for safe keeping after the incident with Ivo. He raised his bow up slightly, then a little to the left to adjust for wind and drop. After he finally found the optimal location, he shot the arrow, and it hit dead center.

The masked man, patted his friend with the hood on the shoulder. "She would've been proud kid."

The mention of _Her _made the hooded man frowned inwardly. Its been a year since she passed, but her death weighs heavy on his soul.

The fishing boat made its way to the beach where it was met by to male individuals: Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson.

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><p>Oliver was staring out his hospital room window when a series of thoughts rushed into his mind. He remembered all the sacrifices he made to make sure he survived to honor his father. He thought of all the people he lost, all of the people who he called "friend". he thought of all the people who probably hated him for going on the Gambit, but only Laurel Lance came to mind. He cheated on her with her sister Sara and was inadvertently the reason why she died, and there hasn't been a day that goes by that he doesn't wish it was him instead.<p>

His mother stood outside the door looking in, waiting for the doctor to give her a report on her son. She was so happy to have him home, but deep down, she was worried about what would happen to him when he made his return public. She has "friends" that would like to know exactly what happened, and she didn't want that.

The doctor walked over to her after returning from getting Oliver's x-ray's. In his hand was a clipboard with several documents and photos, but Moira only wanted to know if her son was fine or not. "Mrs. Queen, Oliver's body is twenty percent scar tissue, there are several third degree burns and broken bones that never healed properly. The Oliver you lost may not be the Oliver they found."

Moira nodded softly and walked into Oliver's room. The thought of seeing her son again was foreign to her. After the Gambit went down, she refused to think that her husband and son were dead, but after a few weeks of nothing, she slowly began to think she lost the two most important men in her family. So when she got a phone call from the U.S Embassy in China that said that her son was found, she had a mix of feelings erupt within her. Seeing him there brought a tear to her eye. "My sweet boy." She cried softly and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Mom." He whispered as he reciprocated the gesture. After a few moments, and very reluctantly, his mother let go. "Is it okay for me to go home?" He asked, and she quickly nodded while wiping away a stray tear. Before they left this room, he spoke again. "Mom, I have a favor to ask." When she stayed silent, he took that as her gesture to let him continue. "There is a man I met on the island who has nowhere to go, can he stay with us?"

"Yes of course dear." She was prepared to move mountains to give her son what he wanted, so she agreed.

Oliver left the room and looked for his friend's room. He walked down the hallway aimlessly, until he found his Australian friend sitting on the edge of his bed. "You ready to leave?" Oliver asked when he walked in.

The man nodded and stood up from the terribly uncomfortable hospital bed. "When do we start?" He asked as he pulled on a t-shirt.

Oliver shut the door behind him before continuing the conversation. "Tomorrow. My father had an old factory in the Glades that we can use." Oliver turned to leave but remembered something he needed to tell Slade. "Oh yeah, my family's security moved our boxes down, but I made it clear that they can't open them."

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><p>The drive home was rather slow. His mother wanted to tell him about things that he missed while he was away. Truth be told, he wasn't paying attention. He was too busy thinking about his promise to his father. The things his mother was talking about was trivial, and he needed to keep his mind on his goal to stop the people whose name is in the List.<p>

After they finally pulled up to the front of the house, Oliver and Slade moved to the rear of the car to get their possessions. To his mother, the cases were filled with things they picked up on their way home, but they were filled with far more deadlier objects.

Oliver walked into his home, and took a deep breath. The thought of one day returning back to this very place is something that helped him push through every harrowing challenge that Oliver endured.

As Oliver was busy off in his thoughts, the family maid, Raisa, walked in. "Mr. Merlyn would like to join you for dinner."

Moira smiled and nodded to the long time family friend. "Oliver did you hear that? Oliver?"

Oliver's attention was elsewhere. He heard footsteps coming from upstairs and his gaze fell onto his sister. She smiled and all but ran down the stairs. She jumped up and hugged him. "I knew you'd come back." She whispered, never wanting to let go of her brother.

Oliver smiled at his sister, and replied, "You were with me the whole time."

As he was enjoying a moment with his sister, the front door swung open. "What'd I tell ya, yachts suck."

Tommy Merlyn. Oliver's best friend since they were kids. They have been as close as brothers since the day they met. Every stupid prank, party, and public outburst involved the two friends. There was nothing they couldn't do with the obscene amount of money they had.

"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver walked up to his friend and gave him a hug.

Tommy Merlyn was Oliver's best friend in life, his lifelong wing man. Oliver trusted Tommy with his life, and vice versa. The adventures they had while drunk to bed as many woman possible in one night were certainly more for playboy Oliver, but the boat accident, and being stranded on an island for five years Oliver is no longer that way. He no longer views woman as objects for his entertainment, he views woman as they should be, people.

The whole group was sitting around the dinner table eating. To say the least, things were awkward. It seemed like a foreign emotion to think that Oliver was alive, after all those years that they thought he was dead. One new thing was that Moira remarried.

Oliver was lightly stabbing the roasted duck that Raisa, the house cook and maid, and long time Queen family friend. She was going around the table picking up empty plates when she tripped. Oliver quickly moved to the side and caught her before she fell to the ground.

"Ne volnuytes' , u menya yest' ty."(1) Oliver whispered into her ear as she straightened back up.

The whole table looked at Oliver as if he was a strange creature.

"Whoa dude. Where did you learn to speak Russian?" Tommy asked his best friend with a bewildered look on his face.

"I didn't know you took Russian in college."

"And I didn't know that you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter."

Moira gasped slightly, but Walter kept a level head, knowing that all of this is a weird transition for Oliver. Thea looked to her mother and stepfather, while Tommy's mouth was agape at his friends bluntness.

Moira gripped Walter's hand before addressing the elephant in the room. "Oliver. Walter and I are married. Now I don't want you to feel that we are disrespecting your father in any way-"

Oliver cut her off. "Can I be excused?"

Moira nodded, and Oliver left the table, and went to his room to shower.

Slade was feeling a bit awkward, since he knew no one present at the table. He contemplated just leaving and heading to the room Moira allowed him to use, but decided against it, hoping to get to know a bit about Oliver's family. "Moira, this is a very nice home."

Moira smiled at the Aussie. "Thank you. My late husband had started to get this mansion built three years before we married, and it was completed a year after Oliver was born." She paused, and studied the man that accompanied her son on the island. He had black hair and a small beard. His physique cried out military, so she was happy that Oliver was protected by someone who knew what they were doing. "Um, Mr. Wilson, if you don't mind me asking, how did you meet my son?"

Slade was was thinking of different scenarios on how to approach the situation, and decided to lie to her, to protect her feelings from what actually happened there all those years ago. "I found him on the shore of the island. He was lying there, about to die, but I carried him to a camp I set up."

Moira nodded at his recollection of the event. "Again, if you don't mind, how did _you_ end up on the island?"

Again, he thought about lying, but decided to give her the gist of the story without revealing too many details. "Me and my partner were apart of the Australian Special Forces, and we were deployed to an island by the name of 'Lian Yu'. Once we were headed to the island, our transport plane had some malfunctions," he lied "and the plane crashed onto the island." He took a deep breath, "My partner...died during the crash."

Moira held a sad look on her face, "I am so sorry. I'm just happy that Oliver had someone to look over him while he was there. Thank you. I feel relieved because, between us," she looked at the group of people still at the table "Oliver doesn't know how to fight or do all those crazy things he would've had to do if he was alone."

Slade smiled at the irony of her statement. He too did believe that Oliver was hopeless, but he turned out to be wrong, when Oliver took down Fyers, Billy Wintergreen, and countless others on their journey home.

Slade thought about his family everyday. It was all that encompassed his thoughts, but the fact of the matter is, he was never going to see them again. On their way to the Embassy in China, Slade requested to be taken to Australia to see his family, but upon getting there, he found out that his son died and that his wife remarried. He thought about them everyday, and wished that he never accepted the assignment to go to that hell of an island.

"Can I be excused? I haven't slept to much the past few years." Moira and Walter both nodded. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

As he stood up, Moira started, "You don't need to thank me. You helped my son for all those years when you could've just left him. You are welcome to stay as long as you like."

Slade nodded, and left for the room that was assigned to him. He decided to shower, hoping to wash away all the pain, all of the suffering, the guilt. He did things he wasn't proud of, but everything that he did was to survive. That's what he always tells himself when he thinks about all of the things that happened. When he got out of the shower, there was a knock on his door. He was slightly confused, and just assumed that the person who knocked was just looking for Oliver, and got the wrong room. He slipped a pair of sweatpants on and checked the door. He was surprised when he saw that it was Oliver's sister.

"Hello?" He asked softly, wondering what she was doing there at the door to his room.

Thea walked past him and sat in a red club chair that was situated by a fireplace on the right wall of the room, by the shower. "Can I talk to you?"

Slade nodded and sat down on the edge of the soft Queen sized mattress. "What do you need?" He tried to sound as calm as possible, because it was brought to his attention by Oliver, that he is kinda intimidating, so he did his best not to sound like he was about to kill her.

Thea started to twiddle her fingers, trying to find the right words to say. "What happened on the island?" She asked, after finally being able to structure together an actual coherent sentence.

Slade ran a hand through his hair, not sure on how to elaborate. He knew that he couldn't tell her about everything, but maybe just something small, so she can feel better. "Well, after I rescued your brother," lie "I decided that if he was to survive, he need to know how to fight. and boy, let me tell ya, that was a difficult task."

Thea let out a small chuckle, picturing her brother go toe to toe with the behemoth that is Slade. "Do you mind me asking about your scars?"

The Aussie decided to not burden her with that. "Go get some rest, today was a very weird day for everyone.

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><p>AN: So this is basically a what if scenario, regarding if Slade never went nuts and returned to Starling City with Oliver, and the Team started out as just him and Oliver. I will decide on whether or not to continue based on the response. Ciao!<p>

"Ne volnuytes' , u menya yest' ty" = "Don't worry, I got you."


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrow Appears

AN: I am so happy so many people enjoyed this. I want to let you guys know that I will try to update this story weekly, but expect another update in a few days because I have been home sick all week. Flashbacks will be labeled as such, just an FYI. To be honest, I didn't think that anybody was going to like this. I got the idea after re-watching S2, and wondered, "What if Slade wasn't such an ass?" And poof! I can't go deeper without revealing too much. Just a few more things, I will elaborate more on some things next chapter, if you are too confused, and I made it to where Oliver had a domino mask the entire time because, although it was classic and awesome in it's own right, i liked the mask better. Enjoy amigos!

Disclaimer: I only own the story. I get no monetary compensation, this is for entertainment purposes only.

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><p><span><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>

Oliver, Shado and Slade were sitting in the briefing room of the ARGUS headquarters in Hong Kong waiting for information on the newest mission they were forced to go in and complete. It has been three months since the fight on the Amazo, and almost three months since they were conscripted into service for Amanda Waller.

The trio turned their heads when they heard a large metal door open up behind them. Amanda Waller walked up to them and dropped three dossiers in front of them. "This is the new operation."

Oliver opened up the folder to look over the information on their newest op. "You're kidding me right?" He dropped the folder on the table after reading the details of their mission. "You want us to go into Santa Prisca? That place is a war-zone!"

Waller kept the stone cold look on her face, she really didn't like opposition. "Which is why we need you guys there." The Wall, as she is called by her underlings, moved over to a screen that displayed a map of the area. "Santa Prisca is now in the midst of a civil war, and we have important assets in the area that need to be extracted."

"So send in a special forces team!" Slade interjected. He really did not like the woman he was forced to take orders from, but even he knew that trying anything would only result in his demise.

"We can't." She turned back around so she was facing the group. "That would attract too much unwanted attention."

"So you send in your deniable assets." Shado revealed, keeping calm during this tense situation.

The Wall had a devilish smile on her face. "At least someone gets it."

-page break-

Oliver was writhing on the floor of his master bedroom. He was dreaming of Shado again, and it brought upon painful nightmares. He has felt guilty about her death ever since it happened, and no matter how much Maseo and Tatsu told him otherwise.

Thea walked into the room after being awoken by Oliver's cry's and screams. She found him in front of the large open window, writhing in the rain that poured into the room. She walked over to him, hoping to get him to wake up. "Ollie, it's okay, you're hom-"

The was cut off when Ollie knocked her onto her back and held her down by her throat. He finally snapped out of it, and nervously pushed himself into a corner. "I-I-I'm so sorry!" He managed to say, scared of what he had done.

Moira went to Thea, and Slade walked over to his 'brother'. "Zhè yīqiè dōu hěn hǎo, nǐ xiànzài huí jiā." (1) Slade said the only things that were ever able to get him to calm down. He picked it up after hearing Shado repeat it to Oliver one night.

Oliver calmed considerably, and slumped his shoulders. "I'm sorry Thea."

She stood up and ran over to her brother and hugged him. "It's okay big bro."

After the situation defused, and Thea told him for the hundredth time, Oliver finally went back to sleep. His mind was plagued by the thoughts of not being able to honor the people who sacrificed themselves so he could return home, and clean his city.

Around nine o clock, Oliver was eating breakfast with the others. He was still feeling guilty about what happened last night with Thea. No matter how many times they reassured him, he still felt bad about what had happened.

A few minutes later, Tommy burst through the door with plans for the day. "Come one come all. We have shit to do!"

Oliver walked in, shaking his head at his friends crude behavior. "Calm down pretty boy."

They were driving around for a few minutes before Oliver decided that he wanted to see Laurel which Tommy opposed vocally. He said that everyone was happy that he came back _but_ her.

"I need to see her. I need to set things straight."

After a horrible attempt to apologize to his former girlfriend, he met Slade and Tommy back by the car in the valley across from CNRI when they were attacked.

"Nighty night."

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><p>Oliver opened his eyes, and he deduced he was in a warehouse by looking around and seeing equipment used to move cargo. He looked over to his friends and saw that Tommy was unconscious and Slade was trying to get out of his bindings.<p>

A minute later, a few of the masked goons walked up to Oliver using suppressed AK-74u's, trying to scare him. They had nothing on the things he had to face on the island and in Hong Kong. "Mr. Queen, did your father tell you anything before he died?" One of the goons interrogated while holding the rifle to his face.

His question was met with silence.

"Did your father say anything to you before he died Mr. Queen."

Silence.

"I'm not going to ask again!" He threatened and hit Oliver in the face with the stock of the weapon.

Oliver spit out some bloodied spit. "You want to know?"

The man who just hit Oliver nodded.

"He told me I was going to kill you."

A round of laughter fell upon the group of four kidnappers. "Oh yeah? How do you plan on doing that with your hands cuffed behind you?"

Oliver then lifted his hands into the air to show that he freed himself, and so did Slade.

The four men looked at each other before charging the two men. Oliver held up a chair, and caught one of the men's hand in it and twisted it, breaking the man's arm. Slade stabbed two of the men with broken chair legs and wiped the blood off of his cheek. He looked down at their unconscious bodies, because he stabbed them in the shoulder, away from the artery.

"Get him!"

Oliver then gave chase to the last man that was trying to escape. He ran through the warehouse vaulting over equipment and cargo boxes. The man was proving a nuisance to Oliver after getting ahead by just a little bit. Oliver, however, found his way to get caught up. He vaulted over a horizontal pole on the roof of the warehouse, and landed in front of the man he was chasing.

Oliver then pulled the man into a choke hold. The man was grasping for air before finally giving in.

"You're lucky I'm not a killer." He whispered in the man's ear after putting him to sleep.

Oliver ran back into the room where his friends were at, and Tommy looked up and saw his friend. "Dude where the hell were you?" Tommy asked loudly.

Oliver shared a look with Slade before answering. "I went after the guy who freed us. He was chasing down one of the men who kidnapped us, but he got away before I could thank him."

Tommy gave Oliver a look that showed that he was kinda doubting it. "Alright dude, at least we're all okay."

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><p>"So you're saying a man in a green hood saved you?" Detective Quentin Lance, father of Laurel and Sara, and serious hater of Oliver Queen, asked skeptically after the three men gave a recounting of their kidnapping. "And he was aided by a guy in an orange and black mask?" Oliver nodded in response to the questions. He knew Detective Lance didn't believe him, but he knew that it was his duty as an officer of the law to look into it no matter how ludicrous it may sound. "And why would he do that?"<p>

Oliver had the tiniest of smiles on his face. "Find him and ask."

Quentin stood up and left with his partner after telling them that he would do what he could.

Oliver and Slade both went to their rooms to rest after the setback that they had received earlier. Tommy said his goodbyes and left for home to see his distant father. Oliver was standing in his room, looking out the window that overlooked the garden behind the mansion, when Slade walked in. "That was a setback that we cannot afford to experience again."

"Yeah, I know. So what is the plan?" Slade asked as he took a bite from an apple that was in his room, left by Raisa.

Oliver turned to his friend and thought about what to do. "Tonight, we head to my father's factory in the Glade's, and figure out from there."

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><p>The two men waited until their welcome home party to strike. Their target was Adam Hunt, some corporate scum bag that has the money to silence those who oppose his agenda. He is a ruthless player in the corporate underworld, and will do anything to obtain more power and influence.<p>

"...so put the bags here and here." Oliver stated as he pointed to two secure locations within the party hall to stash their gear.

Oliver walked over to the table that was next to his arrow sharpener, and started to pack his bag. He may have been calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, he was actually nervous about whether or not something might go wrong. In his years of torment on the island and with ARGUS, he had to think on his feet, so being in a situation where he had the time to formulate a plan was a very foreign concept to him. He lowered the green hood that was given to him by Shado before her death on top of the leather outfit that created his "Arrow" persona, and his bow.

Slade packed his bag, and took a deep look at the half orange, half black face mask that he and his partner used before his partner went rogue and tried to kill Oliver, himself, and Shado. Thinking about his partner caused him to reminisce on how he tortured Oliver, Shado and himself aboard the Amazo. Although he was sad to see him go because of how close they used to be, he was also happy to see him leave after what he did to the three friends.

The party basically went off without a hitch, and Oliver used that as his cover to sneak into a stairwell and put on the hood. He was thinking back to his earlier visit to Adam Hunt, where he threatened to destroy him if he didn't hand over forty million dollars to a bank account. Oliver met up with Slade on the roof of the party hall, both in complete garb.

"So you pick out a name yet old timer?" Oliver quipped to his Aussie friend who had just lowered two guns loaded with rubber bullets into their sheathes on his belt.

Slade pulled the mask from a sling on his belt, and lowered the mask over his face. "Yeah, Deathstroke."

Oliver smiled as he pulled his green domino mask onto his face to cover his eyes. (AN: His domino mask is like those from the cartoons where it just attaches to his face) "Kinda flamboyant don't you think?"

Slade was smiling as well underneath his mask. "I like it."

Oliver pulled an arrow that would create a zip-line from his quiver and aimed at the building across the street and shot. It hit an area that would allow them to lower onto a balcony, and sneak into the elevator that led to Hunt's office.

Once inside, they met zero resistance until they entered the elevator from above, and was able to silently knock them unconscious. They lowered their breathing so they wouldn't make as much noise.

"Remember, no killing."

Slade nodded in response and they lowered into the elevator and began their assault. Oliver shot five men guarding the lobby in the shoulder with a poison that renders its target asleep, while Slade removed a long staff from a sheath on his back and began to wallop the rest of the guards. After the dust settled, they were the only ones not knocked out in the lobby. When nobody came out to attack, they knew that they would have to go into the office themselves. Oliver notched an explosive tipped arrow that would blast a hole in the wall, and cause a concussive blast on the other side.

Oliver ran in and aimed an arrow at the man.

"You have failed this city!"

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><p>AN: Sorry for any lowercase 'I' that should be capital, my word processor doesn't notice things like that so I'm sorry. So I know that I said that it would be Olicity, but I am going to leave that up to you guys. In your Review or in a PM, tell me who you would like to see Oliver paired up with. I will pick the woman who i find the most interesting or was asked for the most.<p>

Here is the list:

-Felicity Smoak

-Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)

-Lois Lane

-Felicia Hardey (Black Cat)

-Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

-Gwen Stacy

-Mary Jane Watson

Or whoever you guys can think of


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